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Saturday, February 16, 2008

This is a very Cantonese 'cake' that many families with a link to Hong Kong will make for CNY. My recipe is a combination of Chin Auntie's ingredients and my Hong Kong friend Ann's method. While Chin Auntie cuts her Chinese radish into thin fries (so you can taste the radish) and fries them in oil, Ann grates her radish (I prefer my radish grated finely too) directly into a wok and doesn't use oil to fry. However, Ann's recipe calls for 'dai tung choy' which I have no idea of because it isn't 'tung choy' or 'dai toe choy'. She also adds a slice of brown sugar and I want to cut back on sugar consumption. So you can say this is a healthier recipe, combining the best of both great recipes.

I like to use waxed belly pork, which is only available here around CNY. If that is not available, substitute with Chinese sausages or even fresh pork.

1. Fry the waxed pork belly for a minute or so until oil starts to seep out. Add the dried shrimps and mushrooms and continue to fry over low fire until fragrant. You can keep the oil that comes out or you can discard it if concerned about the cholesterol.

2. Grate the radish directly into a big wok. Switch on the fire and fry for about 5 to 7 minutes. Add all the water, stirring well, then add the salt, pepper and chicken stock granules, mixing well. Add the fried meat and mushrooms alongwith the oil from frying if using, mixing well. Now add the rice flour and the cornflour, frying and mixing well. Mixture will become very thick. Add the veg oil (decrease by 1 or 2 spoons of oil if you added the belly pork oil).

3. Oil a 30 cm/12" round tin lightly and scoop the batter into the tin, making sure you compact the batter firmly. Level the top. Steam at high heat for 1 hour. The cake will be very soft when hot but firm when cool. You can eat it straightaway when it is still warm (but it'll be soft) or chill it, cut into small slices and fry in a little bit of oil.

note: It is best to chill the cake for 24 hours so that when you slice it, it won't stick to your knife. I've tried cutting about 14 hours later and it was quite messy and broke up easily when frying.

my aunt made one for me b4 CNY. she grated the radish until paste and mix with dried shrimp & flour. so the surface is smooth enuff. After steamed, that cake is coated with handful of "Choi-Bu" (Hakka, perserved radish)